Director elevating mechanism



Nov. 20, 1923. 1,474,759

w. H. P. BLANDY ET AL DIRECTOR ELEVATING MECHANISM Filed Nov, 26 1921 7 Sheets-Sheet Elvmmwtoz- Turner 5% Z M W Nov. 20, 1923 1,474,759

W. H. P. BLANDY ET AL DIRECTOR ELEVATING MECHANISM Filed NOV. 26. 1921 7 Sheets-Sheet z ff. Turner Nov. '20 ,-1923 W. H. P. BLANDY ET AL DIRECTOR ELEY AiIING ME6HANISM Filed Nov.

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Nov. 20, 1923 w. H. P. BLANDY ET AL DIRECTOR ELEVATING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 26. 1921 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 m mu m K P Nov. 20,- 1923' 1,474,759

w. H. P. BLANDY ET AL DIRECTOR ELEVATING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 26 1921 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 92m WW Nov. 20, 1923 DIRECTOR ELEVATING MECHANISM Filed Nov 26. 1921 '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 21 we: 6? J AX l OF TURRET W X/new M/ Ill/l P5207 $51 Nov. 20, 1923 W. H. P. BLANDY ET AL DIRECTOR ELEVATING MECHANISM Fil ed Nov. 26,

Patented Nov. 20, 1923.

one srrss wa n H 1. staining on mama rennin, MARYLAItn, aanmcnmonn K, rriIRiiER, or wnsnmocpon; nis'rmor or COLUMBIA, AssIoN'oRs To THE GOVERNMENT on THE UNITED STATES.

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aii ii'e'ation file'kr' ndvihbei- 26, 1921. Serial No. 518,017.

T all whom it may concern: 7 obtained by the solution in an exact or an Be it known that we, WVILLIAM H. P. approximate manner by mechanical ineans B'LA'NDY and RICHMOND K. TURNER, citizens of an empirical or theoretical performance 5 of the United States, residing at Indian curve or formula showing the successive or 5 Head, Maryland, and lVashingto-n, District total loss of muzzle velocity of a gun as it of Columbia, respectively, have invented is fired an increasing number of rounds. new and useful Improvements in Director The apparatus is so constructed and oper- Elevat-ing Mechanism, of which the followates mechanically in such a manner thati'f a inn is a specification setting of a certain part is made either man- 10 This invention relates to' improvements in ually or automatically depending in amount director elevating mechanism for ordnance upon the number of rounds previously fired, and more particularly to an attachment apand it another part is moved or rotated plicable to great guns adapted to correct either manually or automatically by an for any errors which may inherently lie in exact or approxiinate amount depending 15 gun or turret roller paths as well as' for upon the angle of elevation to which a new loss of muzzle velocity due to erosion of gun would be laid to send its projectile to the gun barrel after extensive use. any certain distance, the apparatus will be Before going into a statement of the inso operated that at another point there will vention the objects of the invention will be indicated or shown a movement that will perhaps' be more apparent from the followcorrespond either to the angular correction ing explanation. In' the construction of that must be applied to the angle of elevaturrets on battleships or the installation of tion previously mentioned, and that will guns on deck emplacements it is very diffienable the Worn unto be laid at such an cult to obtain and ni'aintajin an absolutely angle that its projectile will be sent ap- 25 level roller path whereby when the turret proximately the same distance as in the or un is turned from eXtrenie right to excase of a new gun, or to the angle of eleviitrenie left, for example, the guns will ni'aintion itself to which the worn gun must be tain the same angle of elevation with ret laid for the same purpose. The setting corerence to fixed plane in the ship. The responding to the number of rounds fired su'riace described by a line down the center lnay be set either manually, in accordance of the bore is approxinia tely a' pla'ne and with a scale provided, or a'utomaticzfl'lv by the aziniuth of the; highest point of this the gun itself as it fires each successive plane relative to theship s head ma be round, the latter setting to be accomplished any amount, and one of the features 0 the either by a direct ni'echanical connection be- 35 invention'i's' designed to overcome the error tweenthe gun and the erosion compensacaused by the variable inclination of the tor, or by 1n'eans of electrical mechanism gain to any standard fined plane in the ship on the erosion compensator operated by by automatically movin a reference point the arm; and elevation angle sciirle whei'ebytihe actual With this understanding of the invention elevation of the gun with reference to the in mind the present invention is' directed standard plane may be correctly indicated primarily to the provision of simple for aill'rela t-iye angles-of train. practical ineans adapted automatically to This invention fiuther relates to' an imcorrect the apparatus indicating the el'evaproved apparatus forapplying to the angle tion of the guns for errors due to the in 45 of elevation ofg gun an angularcorrection cl'inat-ion' of thei' roller path. ot the gunfor that ll coinpensate foi the loss inmuzzle turret as; well as the errors due to erosion vloeity ot a projectile fired with a certain order that the gun pointer or gun layer mas of propellant tro'in a gon that has will be enabled to lay his gun at theeor- 1 previously been fired one" or mere rounds, feet an glwitheference-to the horizon for this rose of infu'z zle velocit gtthe pl ojecsending the projectile to a certain dean the increasing ro rejssiweli from the time A further object is to provideia mechathe gun is first fired; This correction is nislirof the above character whiclrmay be inexpensively manufactured and assembled as Well as applied to guns now in use and without material alterations.

Other objects will. be in part obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

In the accompanying drawings there is shown one of various possible embodiments of the present invention and in these drawin s,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of such parts of the mechanism and gun mount as are necessary to understand the invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail view of part of the mechanism shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 is a plan view partly in section of the mechanism shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a detail view of a part of the mechanism shown in Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a view at right angles thereto.

Figures 7 and 8 are detail elevational views of parts shown in Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and more particularly to Figure 1, an elevating bar 10 is adapted to be connected to a part of a gun slide (not shown) by the member 11 and is provided with teeth 12 along its concave side adapted to mesh with a gear 13 mounted upon a sha ft 14: in a relatively fixed support 15. The shaft 11 upon which this gear 13 is keyed is provided with a drum 16 and a larger gear 17. The drum 16 carries on its periphery an auxiliary elevation scale 18, graduated in minutes and coacts with a scale pointer 20 mounted upon and carried by a tilting compensator arm 21. This arm is adapted to be rotated up and down about the axes of the shaft- 1lupon which the drum 16 is mounted through a total of approximately 9 being actuated by a tilt compensator rod 5 1 which is connected with the mechanism hereinafter described and shown more in detail in Figures 5 and 6. This mechanism introduces the correc tion for roller path tilt.

Referring to Figure 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that the gear 17 is adapted to drive a split pinion 23 which through split double gear 24 and pinion 25 drive a shaft 26 extending substantially parallel with the compensator arm 21. This compensator arm 21 in rotating about the axis of the drum 16 carries the bevel pinion25 with it as it is mounted in a lug or bearing 27 thereon as shown more clearly in Figure at and in this manner introduces a differential motioninto the rotation of the shaft 26 which corrects for the tilt. The shaft 26 is provided with two universal slip joints 28 which permit this change of alignment. Through intermeshing gears 30 and 31. Figure 3, the shaft 26 drives a worm 32 which as the gun elevates and depresses causes the erosion corrector plate 33 to move relatively back and forth in suitable guide brackets 34. A slotted arm 35 (Figure 8) ispivotally mounted upon the corrector plate and has this same horizontal fore and aft movement as the worm 32 rotates and being placed at the setting corresponding to the number of rounds previously fired introduces an erosion correction through a roller 36 passing through the slot in the member 35 and rack 37, Figure 7 and internally geared differential member 38. The rounds fired scale 10 is graduated on a removable strip so that the scale for erosion corrections may be brought up to date at any time desired to agree with the latest data from experimental firings. It should be noted that the erosion compensator takes care of the change in correction due to a change in range or a change in angle of elevation. Since the gun angle is not the actual angle of elevation, however, unless the line of sight from the directorscope to the target is zero with reference to the standard plane the director correction should be set by means of an adjusting device 11 at the end of the worm shaft to correct the setting for an angle different. from the angle of deviation due to a list of the ship. The position of the plate 33 will then correspond to the true angle of elevation above the director line of sight. bevel gears 12 the final corrected elevation of the gun is transmitted to a vertical shaft 413 and thence to the elevation receivers shown at 1 1 and in Figure 2.

Referring now to Figure 5, the compensation for roller path tilt is accomplished as follows :-Shafting 46 from the turret or gun training rack transmits the angle of train to disc 47 which rotates once for each complete rotation of the turret and upon the face of which is cut a dove-tailed groove. Sliding in this groove is a block 18, Figure 6, which may be set and locked. in the groove for any angle of tilt up to fifteen minutes .by the scale 50 shown on the disc 47. Block 18 carries a pin 51 which, working in the horizontal slot in a link 52, causes the latter Through 7 to rise and fall as the turret or gun revolves.

A bracket 53 restricts the link 52 to a purely vertical movement. R-od 5 1 connects the link 52 to the arm 21 as shown in Figure 1. The setting of disc 47. for the higher point. of the roller path is accomplished by loosening a nut 55 on pin 51 and changing the relative position of disc 47 and the azimuth scale of the adjacent drum, Figure 5, until the are on the disk 47 points to the angle of train when the path is highest, and while keeping drums 47 together both are rotated until the arc showing angle of train points to the actual bearing upon which the turret or gun is trained when the setting is being made. Then by tightening the nut 55'discs 47 and 49 will then be held together by friction or serrated surfaces. h

From the above description it is believed that the construction, operation and method of use of the present invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. The attachment is of simple and practical construction, accurate, reliable and efficient in use and operation and it is believed to accomplish among others all of the objects and advantages herein set forth.

lVhat we claim is 1. In an elevating attachment for ordnance, in combination with a roller gun support for training in azimuth, means for correcting errors in the angle of elevation due to inclination of the roller path and means cooperating therewith for correcting errors in elevation due to erosion.

2. In an elevating attachment for ordnance, in combination with a roller gun support for training in azimuth, means for correcting errors in' the angle of elevation due to inclination of the roller path, means cooperating therewith for correcting errors in elevation due to erosion and differential gearing and devices interposed between said means whereby they cooperate together.

3. In an elevating attachment for ordnance, in combination with a roller gun support for training in azimuth, a member carrying a scale rotatable with the gun to indicate change in angle of elevation, a pointer coacting therewith, means for moving said pointer whereby correction due to errors of inclination of the roller path are indicated, and means coacting therewith for correcting for errors due to erosion, said last mentioned means including a shaft common to both means and having a differential gear connection.

4:. In an elevating attachment for ordnance, in combination with a roller gun support for training in azimuth, a member carrying a scale rotatable with the gun to indicate the change in angle of elevation, a pointer coacting therewith, means for moving said pointer whereby correction due to errors of inclination of the roller path are indicated, means coacting therewith for correcting for errors due to erosion and a differential gear connected therewith, said last means including a. shaft common to both means, a worm adapted to be rotated by said shaft, and means movable fore and aft with respect to the gun as said worm is rotated to actuate said differential gear mechanism.

5. In an elevating attachment for ordnance, in combination, a drum having *a scale thereon rotatable proportionally to the chan e in angle of elevation, a pointer coacting with said scale, a shaft driven by said drum, gearing operated by said shaft and means adapted to correct for errors due to erosion operable by the rotation of said shaft.

6. In an elevating attachment for ordnance, in combination, a drum having a scale thereon rotatable proportionally to the change in angle of elevation, a pointer coacting with said scale, a shaft driven by said drum, gearing operated by said shaft, means adapted to correct for errors due to erosion operable by the rotation of said shaft, and means associated with said last mentioned means for correcting the erosion indicator.

Signed at Vashington, District of O0- lumbia, this 4th day of October, 1921.

WVILLIAM H. P. BLANDY.

Signed at Washington, District of Columbia, this 18th day of October, 1921.

RICHMOND K. TURNER. 

